LAUSR

Qiang Yang for their interest in our Review (Predictors of stent thrombosis and their impli cations for clinical practice. Nat. Rev. Cardiol. 16, 243–256 (2019))1 and for their helpful comments (Relationship between stent fracture and thrombosis. Nat. Rev. Cardiol. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41569-0190262-6 (2019))2. We absolutely agree that the relationship between stent strut fracture and thrombosis (as well as restenosis) requires further investigation. No agreement exists on the true prevalence of strut rupture, which varies from <1% to 20% in the literature. This variability is influenced by factors such as time after implantation, stent type and implantation technique used, and vessel characteristics. Most importantly, the diagnosis of stent fracture is also influenced by the spatial resolution of the Ruan and Yang that such a classification (most likely on the basis of intracoronary imaging evidence) might help to define the strength and the mechanisms of the asso ciation between stent fracture and thrombosis (including whether only ‘major’ fractures lead to an increased risk of thrombotic or restenotic events).